He isn’t smiling, looks annoyed and isn’t performing like last season
Kylian Mbappe hasn’t seemed all that happy during the first few months of the season with PSG, and through small gestures, he’s making it known.
The French star, acclaimed by fans when he announced at the end of last season that he was staying at Paris Saint-Germain, isn’t reaping the rewards of his decision to spurn Real Madrid.
He isn’t smiling, looks annoyed and isn’t performing like last season
Kylian Mbappe hasn’t seemed all that happy during the first few months of the season with PSG, and through small gestures, he’s making it known.
The French star, acclaimed by fans when he announced at the end of last season that he was staying at Paris Saint-Germain, isn’t reaping the rewards of his decision to spurn Real Madrid.
He’s barely smiling, looks annoyed and his statistics are, for now, far from those of last season, when he was the real engine of the team, a role that Neymar and Lionel Messi have assumed.
Mbappe has ceased being the key figure at PSG, and through small messages, blames it on the position he’s being asked to play under Christophe Galtier.
The latest incident took place last Saturday, when after his team’s draw at Reims, he posted a message on social media.
Although the content was rather innocuous (“draw, date Tuesday”), he accompanied it with the hashtag “pivot-gang”.
In doing so, Mbappe once again brought attention to the little love he has for the No.9 position he plays in at PSG, which takes him away from the wing-backs, where his power and speed, he believes, make him more dangerous.
Mbappe’s veiled complaint
His veiled complaint connects with the statements he made a few weeks ago while with the French national team, where he said that Didier Deschamps gives him more freedom.
“Different things are asked of me here than at club level. I have a lot of freedom here,” Mbappe said.
“The coach knows that there is a No.9 like Olivier [Giroud] who takes care of the defense and I can look for spaces, ask for balls. In Paris that doesn’t happen, they ask me to play as a pivot, it’s different,” Mbappe said on September 22.
Against Reims, Galtier called him to the wing after half an hour of play and, after a long exchange between the two, the player went to the front of the attack while shaking his head.
The 2018 World Cup winner has already had to give up his favored position, the left side of the attack, for Neymar, but now he’s also not being played on the right.
L’Equipe claims the club promised Mbappe they would sign a quality ‘No.9’, something that has not happened.
The man of choice was Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, but the former Bayern Munich man preferred to join Barcelona.
Luis Campos himself, in charge of the transfer strategy at PSG, acknowledged that they had not met their objectives.
“We promised (Mbappe) the building of a great team… with a ‘9’ that we have not brought,” Campos told RMC radio last month.
Injury issues
Slowed by injuries, which have caused him to miss several games at the start of the campaign, Mbappe doesn’t seem happy and his performance is below that of last season.
Nevertheless, the club have played down the importance of the displays of displeasure shown so far.
According to Le Parisien, the goal is to transform this malaise into positive energy, and encourage him to once again be at his best.